Many businesses employ one or more customer service representatives (CSRs) who are responsible for acting as a liaison between customers and the business. CSRs typically communicate with customers to assist with complaints, orders, errors, account questions, billing issues, service cancellations, and other queries. CSRs typically communicate with customers via telephone, email, mail, text messaging (e.g., short message service, multimedia messaging service), instant messaging, video conferencing, social media, or other communication channels. When a CSR communicates with customers, the CSR may be subjected to verbal or nonverbal harassing communication. Alternately or in addition, a CSR may subject a customer to harassing communication, which could create or support a negative public perception of the business.
Typically, when a customer gets upset while communicating with a CSR or when a customer requests to speak with a customer service manager (CSM), the CSR must refer the customer to a CSM. The CSM must then be apprised, by the CSR or the customer, of the nature of the already-transpired conversation. This can cause an already upset customer to become more upset with the CSR, the CSM, and/or the business, which could cause undue anxiety to the customer and/or could create or support a negative public perception of the business.
Further, the customer service industry may experience a relatively high turnover rate with respect to other industries, and the frequency with which CSRs are subjected to harassing communication may correlate with the turnover rate for that position. That is, an increase in the amount, frequency, or severity of harassing communication that a CSR is subjected to may increase the likelihood that the CSR is likely to quit that position. This may cause the business to shift, to other CSRs, the duties formerly assigned to the former CSR, and this increase in workload may cause a decrease in the level of customer service afforded to customers.
Alternately, the business may fill the vacated position with a new hire, which will cause the business to incur the high costs associated with training a new hire.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices, systems, and methods that can detect—in real-time or in near real-time—harassing language or other harassing communication. And there is a need for improved devices, systems, and methods that can automatically refer a customer to a CSM upon detection or prediction or harassing communication.